A motorist who spent two days on a life support machine after skidding on ice is to sue the Highways Agency for failing to grit the road.

The 47-year-old driver from Liskeard in Cornwall is a member of the Royal Navy. He spent three weeks in hospital after being involved in a three-car pile up on the A30 in Devon and Cornwall, when he hit a sheet of ice on a dual carriageway at Trewint, near Launceston in Cornwall on 21 January this year.

Dozens of other motorists also skidded on the ice and were involved in accidents before police closed the road, the Daily Mail reports.

The landmark case was launched after legal papers claiming thousands of pounds in damages were submitted to the Highways Agency.

Officials are allegedly saying, however, that the road was covered in salt – but that hail and rain washed it away and the ice refroze.

The claimant maintains, however, that weather forecasters predicted the icy conditions.

If the case is successful, the claimant would be the first motorist to win a case against the Highways Agency.

The unnamed man’s legal representatives are calling for witnesses who also experienced the icy conditions that day. Solicitors have already received a report from Devon and Cornwall police about the accident, but anyone with information about the road conditions or accidents they witnessed is being asked to come forward.

Chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, Tim Jones, said he had had personal experience of the road conditions:

'In my view, there were two clear failures: firstly, the Highways Agency was not proactive enough when there was plenty of intelligence beforehand that the conditions would be pretty serious; then insufficient action was taken to ensure that road surfaces were safe. It is a classic case of an accident waiting to happen.

‘Something went badly wrong on that day,‘ added Mr Jones.

Just before 7am on 21 January, the emergency services recorded more than 40 accidents on the road, although most of those involved walked away with minor injuries.

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said conditions had been ‘very difficult’.

'We can't predict what the weather's going to be like just after it's been gritted, that's life. And even when roads are gritted, it's not magic – drivers still need to take a great deal of care.’

© 5r1 Limited 2009